Our next stop was Hoi An which is definitely my favourite place in Vietnam so far. It is a really pretty town. There isn't loads of things to do, it's more a place you wander about, eat, drink and go to the beach! We met up with some of the people we met on the Sapa tour, Mary, Andy, Andy and Mattan for lunch before they headed of on other adventures. On our way home from lunch we literally bumped into Julia and Simon who we met in Halong Bay. It is great meeting sound people and then running into them at different points along the way.
Hoi An is the town of tailors so after initial nervousness and skepticism I got a pair of trousers and a skirt made. It was a good decision. I had no luck in Hanoi finding what I wanted and the clothes I brought with me are too hot for this weather. I could never have anticipated that this level of heat existed. The minute you step out of the shower you start sweating again. It is all very attractive really. The first day we had a look around a few tailors and picked one that had good prices. I drew a picture of what I wanted and came back the next day to see them made up. The items I wanted made were quite simple and didn't need any other alterations.
We rented a scmoped the following day. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to grow knacker taches for the occasion. It was our first time ever being on a moped. They were easy enough after you figure out how to start it! My main advice is don't drive straight out onto a main road without test driving somewhere first, unless your a fan of near death experiences. We drove up to the beach and sat in the shade. Or what we thought was the shade but ended up being more exposed than expected. We both got toasted. Even more unfortunately, I was left with an umbrella shaped tan line across my stomach.
We arrived in Nha Trang early in the morning and had beautiful views of the sea on the way in. We got chatting to some people in the hostel who were sound until one of them pulled out a bible and started reading it aloud in the common room. He clearly did not understand the concept of a common room and normal social rules. I should have started reading my book aloud. We quickly made an exit before they tried to convert us.
Turns out Emmet's second cousin, Arlene and her mate Siobhan were there too, so we all hung out together for the couple of days. It was really good meeting up with them and Nha Trang was the perfect place for it. Nha Trang is a cool beach party town and that is what we done every day. We had some great nights out. We got chatting to some expats who showed us the best spots to go. One of the fellas was from Balbriggan and knows some people Emmet went to school with in Skerries. Such a a small world!
The second day, the four of us went on a boat trip, which was absolutely brilliant, although not what was advertised! The tour company told us it was a booze cruise. However, we were the only Westeners on board and were joined by many families! We got chatting to our fellow passengers and they were sound. It ended up being better than a western booze cruise because we got to chat to Vietnamese people. We were definitely a source of amusement!
The first part of the trip was very cultural. They brought us to an aquarium first where we saw turtles and all sorts of fish. Then we went snorkelling off the coast of one of the islands which was brilliant. We jumped in off the roof of the boat, 15 feet up and swam with the fishies! That was our first time snorkelling, but we will definitely be trying it again.
The second half of the day was less cultural. They had a band and we got up and sang, except for Arlene, she got off light. Niamh and Siobhan got up first and sang the fields of Athenry, in their bikini's, much to the delight of the Asian male section of the crowd. Then Emmet got up in swimming shorts, much to the dissatisfaction of the....well everyone probably. His rendition of hey Jude probably didn't help, but it was fun and the guy in the band was dressed like a woman. So there was the inevitable arm over his shoulder and a feel of his impressive boobs and the motor boat at the end of his outstanding performance.
Then after some food on the roof, we went into the sea again to swim around a little water bar they set up. The bar tender sat in the middle serving us shots and dancing, while we sat in floating rings resting our feet on the bar. Safety issues aside it was definitely the best bar ever!
The Vietnamese women don't wear bikinis. They get into the sea in their clothes, which made us feel slightly exposed in our swim gear. They even wore their clothes in the mud baths the next day.
To add to the list of weird things we have seen people transporting by moped, we spotted a guy with a fridge. And not just a normal fridge but one of the big ones they use in restaurants for storing drinks. It is official, feck flat pack or removal trucks, just get a moped.
We spent four days in Dalat. It is set up in the mountains and has a much cooler climate, which was sorely needed. Us Irish are not made for this heat. We met Julia and Simon from Melbourne again for dinner and had a good chat. They had a nightmare bus journey to Dalat, which is a real nightmare considering how the normal ones are. They said the driver narrowly avoided crashing on several occasions, then stopped a bit outside the town and demanded more money. Some arsehole.
We rented mopeds in Dalat and drove around the mountains for a couple of days. The first day we drove out to a beautiful waterfall. It was a little scary driving out of the city but once on the country roads it was fine except for the odd insane death wishing driver that you come across everywhere in Vietnam. The views were pretty spectacular. The second day we followed the easy rider trail to a different waterfall and stopped off at a silk making factory along the way. The factory was amazing. We got to watch the whole process of extracting the silk from the worm, spinning the thread and weaving the cloth. The worms are put into water and somehow the staff manage to find where the thread starts and attach it to a device that spins and pulls the thread.
We also made sure to visit the crazy house, which does what is says on the tin. The designer must have been half cracked building it, but in a good way. The outside looks like a cave mixed with a tree and is built with the levels at different heights. Little stair cases link the buildings, which are quite scary in parts. The rooms all have sixties decor and have a large animal, sometimes with red eyes as a centrepeice. We considered staying a night, but decided to save the cash instead. the hotel is like a museum during the day, still dont know where the guests go!
We arrived in Saigon to pissing rain. We decided to stick to our no taxi unless it's an emergency until we stepped out and looked like drowned rats within about twenty seconds. To save all our earthly belongings being destroyed we swallowed our pride and hopped in a taxi. In fairness, yer man was a legend, he went the wrong way down a one way street for us.
The first morning was all go while we organised tours and our bus to Cambodia. The afternoon was a well deserved break, where we just chilled. We went to a really nice restaurant and had probably the best meal of the trip, which is impressive considering how good the food is. The restaurant had loads of stalls with different types of food that you choose and was set outside underneath big leafy trees. We done a mini walking tour and got home just before it started pissing down again.
We decided to brave the pub despite the torrential rain. We went to a place recommended in Lonely Planet. Big mistake! Their restaurant recommendations are generally good, but the pubs are usually the most expensive western bars in town. We paid way over the odds for a couple of beers. Although we did get playing pool with some cool people, two South Koreans, two French people and a little Vietnamese kid who was a legend. The kid was on our team. He was brilliant at pool and had us in stitches laughing. We assumed he was the son of the owners. However, later we saw him out in other bars selling stuff. His parents send him out on his own to bars on a Saturday night to sell stuff. It is really shocking the attitude to children working. He was a deadly kid though, you know he will end up doing something great when he has so much confidence and is able to connect well with other people at the age of 9.
The nightlife in Asia is not what it is at home. It is hard to find places to dance and it hard to find places with good music (excluding that cool bar in Guilin which we found out is called Cats and Rabbits). We ended up going to this little bar where you sit on the street under a canopy on plastic chairs and get beer for thirty cents. We got chatting to loads of the locals who were sound. The places the locals go and Lonely Planet does not mention are definitely the way to go. One of the lads kept warning us not to drink the beer and not to eat the street food. "The number for the hospital is 114. I can bring you if you get sick"! We can only assume he was taking the piss although he did not flinch! He then told us he runs a scam where he encourages tourists to drink the beer and eat the food and then brings them to the hospital for a commission. He was listening to headphones, when I asked him what he was listening to he told me "the winner of Eurovision 2012". I didn't believe a word that came out of his mouth but he kept us entertained.
The next day we went to the CuCui tunnels with hangovers. We didn't feel to bad there, although getting up was painful. We must have sweated the alcohol out. The tunnels are where the Viet Cong hid against the Americans. They built a network of tunnels 250 km long by hand. We walked through 100 metres of one that was widened for tourists, and it was cramped. I don't know how people lived and travelled through them. We climbed down through one of the entrances. It is concealed in the ground and is so small that at first glance you would not think that a person could fit. The whole place was really interesting. We learned a lot about the history of Vietnam. The hangover started to kick in then, we got food and then conked in the hotel for the evening.
The last stop in Vietnam was the Mekong Delta. We travelled by boat to different sights. It was a bit touristy. We went to a bee keeping farms, where we could buy honey and a coconut candy factory where we could buy coconut candy...see a pattern here. Emmet got stung while holding one of the hives, but was very brave, he only cried a little. We went by boat all around the Mekong and out to several different islands. At one stage we took little paddle boats down a tiny canal surrounded by huge palm trees. The river and canals were pretty impressive. The landscape is very different from anywhere we had been before.
We stayed in a home stay at night. It was more a guesthouse but the family were lovely and we done a cooking course with them in the evening. We made spring rolls, which of course myself and Emmet are already experts at! We then had more happy water. We were joined by four Danes and two Belgians who were up for the craic. One of the tables went to bed early so we took their happy water too. And another was delivered to us at some stage during the night. It was a lot of fun and the beers mounted up. One of the guests had a guitar and those with musical talents played a few songs. Then one of the lads produced a daughter who was ridiculously talented. She was only fourteen and had the most amazing voice and wasn't a bad guitarist either. She had one of the lads choked up when she played hallelujah.
The next day we went to a floating market. The boat owners buy fruit and vegetables from farmers in bulk and sell it from boats on the river. They tie the produce that they sell to a big stick so customers know which boat to go to to get what they need. We bought pineapple which was delicious. So delicious in fact that I overdosed on it and my tongue got pins and needles and swelled up.
Now we hit off for Cambodia...
Some dodgy photos. looks like an amazing trip!
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